The Rest of My Life
by Caroline Dorothy
Summary: What happens once the TARDIS disappears off Bad Wolf Bay for the last time and Rose is left with the meta-crisis doctor to love? This is my version of what happens.
1. Chapter 1

And as I watched the TARDIS de-materialize for the last time, my Doctor gripped my hand tightly, knowing that it'd be hard for me to watch it go. It had been my home; my escape, and now here I was, almost back where I started.  
Except the fact that I had my Doctor to take care of.  
"You're going to get a real name, right?" I looked up at him seriously. His face broke into a smile and he laughed softly.  
"I suppose you're right… I should." I just nodded, a small smile on my face. "John Smith? I've always gone by that before whenever I needed an actual name."  
"Fair enough." I smiled softly and turned around to face my mum, who looked teary herself. She sucked it up and opened her mouth.  
"Well, how are we supposed to get home?" She put a hand on her hip and I laughed. Typical mum.  
"Can't you call dad?" I asked matter-of-factly.  
"Think of the bill, Rose! We still have to pay off your inter-galactic using and different parallel universe using and… No! " She exclaimed, obviously forgetting that dad was rich.  
"I'm sure I can cover it at work! I'm not walking back to England!" John began to laugh. It was going to take some getting used to, calling him John.  
"Oi!" My mum took her phone out of her back pocket and went off to call dad.  
The Doc- I mean John turned to me. "So. What do you say?"  
"About what?" I could say a lot of things right about now.  
"Spending the rest of my life together? Please answer before Jackie comes back over here… I don't want a fuss…" He was grinning, obviously not caring too much.  
"I don't see why not… You're going to have to get a job though." I laughed as his face went into a look of surprise.  
"What" He dead-panned.  
"Pay the house bills and food and everything, my paycheck will never cover all of that." I teased him.  
"Fine, fine." He sighed, seeing that he could never get out of this one.  
I just laughed. "Maybe you could work for Torchwood, that way we always know when to interfere?" I offered, seeing as it would make my life just that little bit easier and to feel more at ease that I didn't have to wait to know when Torchwood was up to something. It drove me crazy, knowing that I could do something maybe, but I'd have to wait to find out about it the same time as everyone else.  
"Maybe." He nodded, seeing that it would make me happy, which made me smile as my mum came back over.  
"He'll be here soon, but it will probably take a while because he's in a meeting. Let's go find a hotel for the night and see what sort of food Norway has to offer." She nodded and began to walk across the beach, a determined look on her face. We just laughed and followed, hand in hand, not about to argue with a determined mum.  
We walked and walked until we found a nearby town, it was small and quaint and kind of cute.  
We walked into a bed and breakfast and John and I sat in the sitting room while mum made reservations. We sat on a couch side by side and I just smiled, thinking of having him, all to myself. No more surprises like regeneration or TARDIS tricks or new companions; just the two of us against the world. We would settle down maybe. Had he ever settled down before? Did he have children? I'd ask him all of this later, as to not ruin the seemingly perfect air to us.  
I looked over at him and he was smiling and looking at me. "What's on your mind, love?" He gave me a knowing look.  
"Just thinking."  
"You know that's not a good enough excuse around me, right?"  
"I know." I smirked, leaving him hanging.  
"That's not fair!" He laughed.  
"I was thinking about the future is all."  
"Is all? The future is huge, Rose! Have I not taught you that?" He grinned.  
"Well, our future isn't till the earth roasting, now is it?"  
"Time can be re-written."  
"That's rather scary." I looked at the wall, never thinking about that. Everything I had was hanging on a thread because an extra dalek could show up and ruin everything, or a cyberman could kill the doctor, and John wouldn't be here. Everything I knew was on a small thread that could snap at any given moment. It was scary.  
"Wibbley-Wobbley, timey-wimey stuff." He nodded, grinning.  
"If you say so." I laughed, smiling.  
"Alright, so, Rose and I are sharing a room, and you're in the one across from us…" My mum came over and handed us room keys. "What am I supposed to call you?"  
"John Smith." He nodded and grinned.  
"I still don't like you." She walked upstairs to find the room while John and I laughed.  
"Your mum is funny sometimes."  
"Only when she doesn't try to be." I laughed and stood up. "Lets go find your room." I held my hand out to him to offer to help him up. He took it and sprang up.  
"Yes!" and we were off, running up the stairs in a mad-dash to find his room. I trailed behind him slightly, laughing. He found his room, entered the key and walked in with me behind him.  
It was in Victorian design with a beautiful chandelier, wooden fireplace, bed with a green striped comforter, a desk and chair, and wood floors. Beside the floor, all wood was white. The only thing that looked odd was the flat screen T.V. in the corner. It was rather beautiful. His room had a balcony behind glass sliding doors, which were hidden behind a curtain matching the comforter.  
"Well? Do you approve, Mr. Smith?" I smiled and sat on his bed and he sat next to me.  
"I say I do, Ms. Tyler." He said with a smile. He leaned over and kissed my cheek and I smiled a bit wider, quite content with life at this moment.  
I'd get married to him and have the life I used to dream of when I was small.  
It would be perfect, except for the Torchwood hiccups that we were going to have. But that just honestly made it all the more exciting, and just like old times.  
"Rose!" My mum called for me, walking right into John's room. "Our room has satellite T.V.!" She was so easily excited. "We're going to have to share a bed though if that's alright… There's also a mini-fridge!" She grinned, proud of herself for finding this place, and ran back to her room.  
"Well, I better go make sure she doesn't hyperventilate out of amazement." I said with a smile.  
He fake huffed. "Yeah, I guess you better…" He laughed softly as I stood up. I kissed his nose before walking out of the room, following my mum into our room, a smile on my face.


	2. Chapter 2

I tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable in my normal clothes. Mum refused to let us go buy pajamas, so there I was, t-shirt and jeans, attempting to get comfortable. And mum's snoring wasn't helping. I turned over to peer at the alarm clock on my bedside table. It read one a.m. I silently threw the covers off of me and sat up, swinging my feet to the side of the bed, letting my feet hit the carpet. I stood up and padded over to the door into the hallway, peering out. The Doct- John's door was propped open by his converse shoe. I smiled softly, closing the door behind me, and walking into his room.

I looked around, and saw that the curtains were pushed back and the glass door wide open, John sitting on the balcony with his legs dangling off of it, hair blowing around in the wind. I smiled and sat next to him, letting my legs dangle. I looked off into the distance as I felt John's eyes on me. I looked over at him and smiled.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked, apologetic smile on his face.

"Course I couldn't. These aren't the comfiest clothes to sleep in and my mum snores!" He laughed.

"I'll have to remember that… Tease her about it later, hold it against her…" He had a grin on his face.

"You're mean!" I teased him, laughing. I gently laid my head on his shoulder, shivering slightly. I had forgotten to put my jacket back on, but I didn't want to go and get it, ruining this perfect moment. He put his arm around me and it was like those little romantic moments in movies. Only it was with him. I smiled softly.

"Hey, Rose?" He asked, looking off into the distance again.

"Yeah?" I looked up at him.

"So this is how it feels? To know that you only have one life and one shot at everything?"

I just nodded.

"It's different, you know? It used to be that I could regenerate if something hurt me, but now, if something hurts me bad enough… I'm dead."

"Please don't die." I whispered.

He smiled gently. "I don't plan on it. You say that there's a Torchwood in this universe?"

I nodded again. "Yup, and they think that I know a hell of a lot about aliens, think about what you'll do. You should lead them in the right direction." I smiled up at him, hoping to help.

"Maybe…" He contemplated. "But let's talk about that later." He smiled at me.

I yawned slightly. "Yeah… Is it really that different thinking that this is the only life you have?"

"It's a bit… I only have one shot at everything."

"It's how it's always sort of been though."

"If I was desperate enough, I could've gone back in time."

"I suppose."

"Nevertheless, it's with you, and that's good." He nodded, serious. I just smiled and nodded, yawning again. "Someone tired?" He teased.

"I couldn't get back to sleep in my room though, my mum is roaring, remember?" We both laughed.

"You could always sleep here… I could make a little bed on the floor for myself so your mum doesn't freak if you like."

"You won't get any sleep though! So no!" I nodded. "I'll just sleep in the car tomorrow when my dad gets here."

"That will be even less comfortable, though." He frowned.

"I'm not letting you sleep on the floor!" I countered.

"I've slept on the floor lots of times in my 900 years of travel!"

"Not anymore if I can help it!" I was stubborn, and he knew that.

"Fine, fine, fine…" He sighed, defeated. "Then we'll share the bed and set the alarm for before your mum wakes up, you'll run back and act like you never left." He seemed rather pleased that he thought of this idea.

"Maybe." I smiled.

"I'll stay on my side of the bed!" He grinned.

"Fine." It obviously wasn't that hard to make a decision. Share a bed with him, or go back and share with my snoring mum. I chose him. He'd be warm and stuff.

"Not now of course. The view is too pretty." He nodded. The town was small and in the moonlight, you could see a silhouette of a huge old church, complete with bell and everything.

I just nodded in agreement, staying close to him to stay warm. He suddenly began to move and he draped his jacket over my shoulders, and I just smiled.

The last thing I remember was a kiss on my cheek before I fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Rose, wake up!" I heard a harsh whisper in my ear as I was being shaken. I covered my head with the covers.

"mmph." I tried to push him away, knowing that it was John's voice. He laughed softly.

"Rose, we don't want your mum to get upset… We have to spend a lot of time with her in closed spaces like cars…" He clearly didn't want to get slapped again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I sat up, hair in my face and all messy. I tried to blow it out of my face with no luck. John helped me out, laughing.

"Now, c'mon. Get back in your mum's room so she'll never expect that you were gone." He pulled the covers off of me, a smile on his face.

I groaned and got up, walking back to my mum's den, and fell asleep immediately, not evening acknowledging her snores.

The next morning was another rude awakening thanks to my mum.

"C'mon, sweetheart! I have to be sure that he sees us!" She continued fussing with the jewelry she had and cleaning up the make-up smudges from forgetting to take it off before she fell asleep, trying to look her best. I thought it was cute that she wanted to look nice for the man that she loved. I smiled to myself as I thought about the man across the hallway. I wondered what he thought. Did he truly think like the Doctor? Or was he making it up? I highly doubt that the Doctor would lie to me about something like that... "I hope he brings Tony…"

I sighed and sat up. Our plan had obviously worked or she'd be yelling at me right now.

"How do you know that the Doctor across that hallway is real?" My mum asked spontaneously.

"Of course he's real, mum!" What sort of stupid question was that?

"I know he's real… But how do you know that there are no secrets? The second time you came home from traveling, he was a whole different man, Rose."

I sat there; shocked that she'd try to ruin my fairytale. But she was just watching out for me… Rudely.

"Rose, how do you know that he's not leaving, or dying anytime soon. I don't want you getting hurt again!"

I didn't know. I never thought to ask. What if he was a half-life? I've seen those before. What if meta-crisis people didn't live long enough to do anything? I had been so desperate to have my Doctor back, that none of this had crossed my mind.

"Rose. You don't know. What if he doesn't know? The Doctor didn't seem to know that he was possible really…"

I just sat there; dumbfounded as my mum continued on with her rambling that I couldn't care less about. She had just opened my eyes to what I had forgotten to notice. But… The Doctor wouldn't leave me to get my heart broken? He did last time though… I sighed and just stood up, unable to properly process my thoughts right now as I smoothed my shirt out and put my hair into a small pony-tail, using the spare elastic from my wrist. There was too much on my mind and the only way of finding the truth was asking. And I hated awkwardness.

My mum and I finished cleaning up and went into the hallway to spot a roaming John. My mum nudged me, trying to get me to ask questions as she went outside.

"You're not a half-life… Are you?" I looked up at him, ready for the worst, but hoping for the best.

He stared at me for a minute. "Rose…"

I began to choke up slightly. "Are you?"

"I don't know…" He sighed.

"How do you not know?" I yelled, angry with myself for letting my emotions go in front of my brain. It was going to be heartbreak all over again.

"I've never dealt with a meta-crisis before…" He looked sorry, and I felt bad for yelling.

"Can you research it or something?" I didn't want to fall into nothing. "You're all I really have."

"You have your mum." He nodded.

"And she has my dad." I sighed. I had always been a romantic at heart.

"I guess, yeah…"

"And she has Tony."

"Oh yeah…"

"John… I just want my Doctor…"

"I am your Doctor…" I sighed. Yeah, he was, but I wanted forever. With the real Doctor, at least I knew that I wouldn't have to spend a day without him if I spent my forever with him.

"I don't want you to leave me again…" I sighed, letting my biggest fears out.

He pulled me into a hug and I laid my head on his chest. "I'll do everything I can to stay here… I promise."

I hoped that it wouldn't be another broken promise.


End file.
